Ship.



2 SHEETS-SHEET l- Intwmd Nm'. 19, 1918.

L. HOFFMAN.

SHIP

APPLICATION VFILD MAR(l 25. 1918.

L. HOFFMAN.

SHIP. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25| |918- 1,285, 182. v Patented Nov. 19,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

6291451493: v.' Mu

`the numeral 1 designates an LOUIS HOFFMAN, or ssn FRANCISCO,

un eff-raras narrar orrion CALIFORNIA.

SHIP.

Application filed March 25.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis HOFFMAN, a citizen of Russia, residing at SanFrancisco, in the county of SanFra-ncisco and State of California, haveinvented certaink new and useful Improvements in Ships; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, suoli as will enable others skilled in the art to whichy it`appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an ocean-going vessel whichwill be practically immune from torpedo attack, the ship beingconstructed of upper and lower hull sections spaced apart suiiieientlyto permit an approaching torpedo tor pass between the two withoutinjuring the vessel, provision being made however for localizing theinjury as much as possible Ain casethe torpedo should strike andexplode. f With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in thenovel features of construction and unique combinations of parts toy behereinafter fully described and claimed, the descriptivo matter beingsupplemented by the accompanying drawings which form a part of thisspeciiication and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the yimproved ship Fig. 2 is a centralvertical longitudinal section;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;and

Figs. l and 15 are vertical transverse sections on the planes of thelines -i and 5--5 respectively of Fig. 2.

ln the dra-Wings; above briefly described,

upper hull sec-y tion floating substantially on the surface of thewater, Vwhile the numeral y2 designates a lower submerged hull spacedbelow the hull section 1 suiiiciently to permit torpedoes to passbetween the two, the front and rear ends ofthe two hull sections howeverbeing joined to provide stern et of usual construction, so that aslittle resistance as possible is Odered to the progress of the ship,said prow Yand stern being honey-combed with air tight compartments 5,whereby even though one` part yof said stern or prow be injured, theremainder Y thereof will not be Hooded. j

Extending vertically between the` two hull sections 1 and 2 and securingthem together, are longitudinally spaced struts 6, the inner edges ofsaid struts being preferably of Specification Oi Letters l'atent.

n hull section,

a prow Y3 and ,Y

1918. Serial No. 224,590.

ratentea Nov. I9, 1918.1

semi-cylindrical formation as seen at 'i'.

while the outer edges thereof are beveled to substantial knife edgesasshown at 8 to-.provide torpedo Adeflecting means. Further-` more, toprovide additional deflecting means, the bottom 9 of the upper hullsection 1 is inclined upwardly atl its edges as' shown in Figs. l and 5and lower hull section plurality of vided through the parts 9 anc S ofthe struts 6, form iiared ends for guiding the torpedoes through saidpassages, it being intended that they thro ugh without in any mannerinjuring the vessel.V Even should one or more of the struts G bedamaged, however, water will not be admitted into either the upper Orthe lower since the ends of said struts are closed against communicationwith said hull sections as shown clearly in Fig. 4. Also, each strut ispreferably divided into a pair of compartments by a vertical partition12, so that injury to one part of the strut need not affect the other.

The upper hull section 1 will be used principally for carrying thepassengers, while the machinery of the ship and any cargo will be stowedin the lower hull section 2, the two hulls being in communication bymeans of preferably cylindrical vertical passage mem bers 13 and 14,said passage members 13 having suitable doors or hatchways 15 openinginto the hulls 1 and 2, while the passage members 14 in addition tobeing provided with hatchways or doors, open onto the upper deck lof thevessel. Suitable stairways, elevators or the'like may be provided thepassage members 13 and lfi but for illustrative purposes need not beshown. InAY all cases however these passage members are preferablylocated between certain of Vthe struts 6 as shown in Fig. 3, so thatsaid struts` will guard said [passage members against torpedoes.A

The interior construction of the hull sections 1 and 2 will varyaccording Vto rthe,

uses of the ship, butin most cases the section ,L1 will be provided witha horizontal door 16,

will extend while Va centralV compartment 17 longitudinally, through thelowerV section .2, whereby to provide airtight compartments 18 along theedges of said last-named section the top 10 of the, 2 inclinesdownwardly aty its edges as also seen in the gures referred to, By thearrangement of parts described, a torpedo passages P are pro-i the shipand the inclines ot, i 10 together with the bevels shall pass freely andsimilar compartments 19 and 2O above and belenv said compartment l?,this provsion being preferable. in order that injury to one part of thehull section 2 and flooding thereofk with Water need .not aleei theremainder `hereol The eonipartnienrs 18 and 2O may be used for carryingcargo if desired, in which case it would be neoeesarg1 lo providesuitable bulk heads 2l to out oil communication with `lhe centralcompariment l? Whenever necessary (see Fig. el).

From the foregoing, taken in connection with he accompanying drawings,it will be obvious that alhough my invention is ol" rather simplenature, it will be practically invulnerable ro torpedo ar-rack. Brenthough cert-ain parts of the ship be injured, the remainder thereof willbe unaleeed and Will remain in a seaworthy condition. Due to Irheeeadwfantages, the; 'improved vessel is particularly Well adapted for useas a trans port or passenger fessel, burl equall)v Well applicable as afreighter.

Since probablyv the best results are obehown and are preferably emtainedfrom the several details described, these details reeeaee ployed, butWithin the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes mayWell be made.

l claim:

In a rorpedo resisting ship, a hull partly below and partly above the,Water line, said hull haring throughout the greater part ol' its leuglha `longimdinal torpedo passage Whiehopeus `through the sides of 'he hullat a distance below the Water level e ual lo the traveling depth of atorpedo, the top, bortoin and ends of the passage being beveled todirect torpedoes into said passage, the stern and prow f J[he hullbetween he ends of said passage and the extreme ends of said hull beingfree from openings below the Water level and being` honey-combed Withair-righe compartments.

ln testimony hereof l have hereunto Set my hand in The presence of rufosubscribingv ulinesses.

L( )U18 HGFFMAN.

B. H. Rrvrsn.

eeeh, by edreesng me Commissioner of Eateae,

